


Darkness Upon Your Door

by Sachiela



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Set after the end of Season 6, Slight Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22634704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sachiela/pseuds/Sachiela
Summary: "Maybe they never considered him a friend from the very beginning."While on the journey back to Earth, Lance is still withdrawn from everyone, doubting his place on the team and whether he actually matters to any of them. Keith and his wolf join him sometime later, and things finally start to look up.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 155





	Darkness Upon Your Door

**Author's Note:**

> For hauntedwintersweets on Tumblr, who requested Langst ending in Klance. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Title from Crash and Burn by Savage Garden.

It starts out with little things. Being brushed off, no responses to his questions. At first, he thinks nothing of it. They’re in the middle of a war and there are bigger things to worry about. 

But it keeps getting worse. He’s flat out ignored or told to go elsewhere by those he considered his best friends. His questions are met with teasing or ridicule. And when he’s actually upset about something, all he gets is mockery and scorn.

Maybe they never considered him a friend from the very beginning. 

He doesn’t even think they notice when he stops initiating conversations, only replying when any of them address him directly. He even stops talking to the mice. They only report to Allura anyway and he doesn’t want the princess to think that he’s just a whiner. 

In the grand scheme of Voltron, what’s it matter that no one wants to chat with the former blue paladin?

Did any of them know that he had _actually died_ out there for a moment?

And then one day, the words just...stop. He’s excited to be going _home_ , more than happy to be able to see his family again, but it feels like the neurons between his brain and his vocal cords have been cut. He’s able to hide it, at least, but it makes him feel even more that the others just don’t care. And if they don’t care, what’s the point of trying to talk again?

He starts staying in his lion more, which still doesn’t feel like _his_. Red feels like Keith’s and Blue is Allura’s and it just leaves him without a lion. But he has to pilot Red, to be Keith’s support. Ever since Allura brought Shiro back, the black paladin had lost all connection to Black, which means they are no longer one paladin too many. This should help Lance feel better, it means he’s definitely needed after all, but it just makes him feel like he’s a stand in until things go back to normal. 

Red tries to make him feel better, he can tell every time there’s a gentle rumble in the back of his mind, but it’s missing that maternal undertone he got used to from Blue and leaves him feeling even _more_ out of place. He can tell Red is frustrated with him, but he doesn’t know what to _do_.

He has the fleeting desire to curl up in his mama’s lap until this all blows over, but how childish is that?

He thinks about flirting with Romelle, she is very pretty after all, but the words shrivel up in his throat before he even gets a chance to utter them. There’s really no point to it, is there? He can’t go looking for “Mrs. Blue Lion” when he’s not even “Mr. Blue Lion” anymore. Besides, he’d probably just end up annoying her, like everyone else. 

With that thought eating away at him, he hands the rest of his meal over to Keith’s new wolf to finish and heads back to Red, not climbing in his cockpit, but instead hiding behind his feet. It’s less likely anyone would find him there anyway. 

He sits behind Red’s back leg on the ground, hood up and hands tucked into his pockets as he stares up at the sky. _Dios_ , he used to look at the stars and dream of flying among them, seeing all he could, meeting any and every alien out there. Now he just feels small and alone. Tears burn at the corners of his eyes, but they don’t fall. He’s not even sure if he has the energy to cry anymore.

Keith’s space wolf comes sniffing around a moment later, tail wagging when Lance looks over and makes eye contact. Did he come over to beg for more food? It’s not like he has any more, though he would give it to him if he did. Not sure how to tell the wolf that he doesn’t have anything, he turns back to stare at the sky. 

The wolf comes closer, sniffing about and nosing at Lance’s hands. He opens them up to show that he really doesn’t have anything, but the wolf just keeps nudging until Lance finally gives in and begins petting him lightly around his scruff. The wolf seems to really enjoy it and settles next to him, leaning his weight against Lance’s side. 

Lance smiles slightly, probably for the first time in ages. “At least you seem to want me around,” he whispers, voice rough from going so long without using it.

“Oh, there you both are,” Keith says as he rounds Red’s leg. 

The blue paladin looks up at him with wide eyes, wondering if he’s going to be accused of luring the wolf away now or something. He pulls his hand away from the wolf’s fur, but the wolf just lifts his head up to stare at him and whines. 

Wow, he’d never been subjected to _actual_ puppy eyes before. Those are lethal. Lance starts petting him again, if only to avoid accusations of upsetting the wolf now.

Keith lets out what sounds like a soft laugh and walks around the pair until he can sit on Lance’s other side, which serves to confuse Lance further. Why wasn’t he sitting next to his wolf instead? Their thighs touch as Keith settles and Lance stares at him, wondering if he’ll get answers any time soon, but scared to ask the questions to get them. Would Keith just scoff at him and walk away, brushing him off again?

But Keith says nothing, looking out at the stars like Lance had been before he’d suddenly had company. 

After a few moments, Lance turns to look back up as well. It’s kinda nice, actually, having both of them here with him and not demanding anything from him. Well, minus scritches from the wolf, but Lance can forgive that demand. He can’t even remember the last time he’d had any sort of casual contact from anyone, even his supposed best friend.

Lance’s gaze drifts down to his lap and he frowns. Why is Keith even here? Did one of the others say something? No, that would mean they would have noticed something, and he knows none of them have. 

“My dad and I used to stargaze all the time when I was little,” Keith murmurs suddenly, drawing Lance out of his spiraling thoughts. “It’s part of what made me so interested in trying to go to space, even if no one believed in me besides Shiro after...after my dad died.” 

The blue paladin blinks a few times, not sure what Keith is getting at here. Why is he telling Lance all of this now?

“Back then, I thought I could just leave everything behind, keep going and never look back. No one needed me around, you know?” Keith turns to look at Lance, a soft smile on his face that Lance has only seen a few scant times. “But then things changed. _You_ changed things for me, showed me that I did belong somewhere and that people needed me.”

Lance makes an inquisitive sound, but otherwise doesn’t speak. He grows even more concerned when Keith’s expression falls and his gaze moves to the ground.

“But I need to apologize to you, too. When I left...I thought I was doing the right thing, making sure you wouldn’t doubt that you had a place on the team. Looking back, it probably wasn’t the right choice, but it was all I could think of doing at the time to help you. And then, when I finally came back...there was so much going on and I’d seen…” 

Keith cuts himself off and shakes his head, looking back at Lance. “What I mean to say is, I’m sorry. For leaving and for brushing you off when I came back. I could give a hundred excuses to explain myself, but...I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you, but I did, and I’m so sorry for that.”

That...what is he supposed to say to something like that? Lance blinks a few more times, fingers clenching in the wolf’s fur as tears gather in the corners of his eyes. 

“I know you haven’t been talking much, if at all lately, and...if I contributed to that at all, I’m sorry for that as well. I won’t force you to try, but...if you want to...I want to be here for you like you were for me.”

“Keith…” Lance manages to finally rasp out and is surprised when the red paladin smiles.

Ever so slowly, as if afraid Lance won’t accept it, Keith pulls him into a hug. Lance takes a shuddering breath and then all but collapses against him, clinging to the back of his shirt. Keith holds him just as tightly, not letting up in the slightest until Lance finally starts to sit up again. And even then, he keeps one arm around Lance’s back, which Lance appreciates more than he could ever hope to put into words. 

The wolf huffs and scoots to flop over their legs, startling a small laugh out of both of them. 

*~*~*~*

It’s a slow process after that, coming back to himself, but Keith is there to support him through every victory and fallback, and Lance does his best to support Keith in return. Things aren’t perfect between them either--they’re only (mostly) human, after all. 

And yet, when they’re sitting on top of the black lion, watching the sunset the day before the final confrontation with Sendack, when Keith gives the most wonderful description of Lance that he’s ever heard of himself, he can’t help but feel that everything has been leading to this moment. 

Moving to cover Keith’s hand with his own, he leans close, gives Keith a moment to realize his intentions and make a choice himself. The red paladin’s gaze softens and he meets Lance halfway. It’s not fireworks or anything spectacular when their lips meet, but more of a small spark, a promise of so much more, and a feeling of coming home. Lance’s fingers curl around Keith’s and he presses closer, his other hand coming up to brush through that soft mullet, breathing in the soft sound Keith lets out.

Whatever darkness they face next, they’ll do it together.

**Author's Note:**

> This piece is actually something I've been wanting to write for ages, getting the chance to dive deeper into the anxieties and depression that we only were able to glimpse on the surface in the show. Lance's anxieties are very similar to my own, so this was both difficult and freeing to write in turns. 
> 
> If you enjoyed it, please let me know. 
> 
> And if you need someone to talk to if you're going through anything similar, you can find me here or on [Tumblr](https://sachiela.tumblr.com/), same username.


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